I didn't say who is better. I am not one of those fools who believes Asik is just as good as Howard. Clearly he is more talented. He can block shots and shoot better and is more athletic. But over the course of the season that difference has become smaller. Their rebounding is almost a wash and Asik is shooting better, dunking with authority and even blocking better. Plus Asik is a quintessential team player. You do not have to give him a certain amount of touches to please him and he is always working to improve. Howard is more talented I would never deny that but there is a thing called chemistry that also plays a role and I am not sure for this team Howard is the best fit. Just look at Howard with Kobe. Nash needs touches too. It's the same with the Rockets and Lin and Harden. With Asik you get almost all the offensive benefits without the headaches. Plus Asik is a year younger but many years younger in NBA experience to Dwight. Howard has probably peaked where as Asik is just beginning to learn. I expect Asik to develop a mid range jumper even better than Howard over the summer. He has good shooting form he just needs practice and confidence. So for my money I do not see upgrading Asik as our best investment and would rather spend our dollars. I would prefer Kevin Love and there seems to some hint that the wolves might be interested in trading him for the right price. But that is still a long shot and this free agent PF is clearly Josh Smith. So how does that help this team. Clearly PF is our weakest spot. Smith brings an upgrade on rebounding and shotblocking instantly. He can score in the paint and defend almost any other PF one on one in the league. As I said he is not my first choice. For this team Love or Bosh would probably be that guy. I wish Smith could hit threes at a higher clip but he does shoot 30% and considering he will get more open looks on our team and shooting 3's is a priority perhaps he can improve that to a respectable 33%. The thing is Smith is a big upgrade over anyone else we have to play the 4. And he doesn't seem to have star big head that Howard has. I think he would fit right in and improve our team almost immediately. Plus we would have at least 2 young PF prospects under him ready to develop. I also think we could manage to pickup another 3 point shooter with the money we save over Howard. I would double dip with Atlanta and do a sign and trade for Korver or maybe Reddick.
Bigger upgrade? Asik or Howard - not that big of a difference. Smith or Motiejunas/Greg - big difference. J-Smoove all the way.
I think the most important thing is not who is the biggest upgrade. It's who gives you the highest ceiling, and that's Howard. He would thrive in our pnr offense. Once you have Howard and Asik, you have 48 minutes of defense and rebounding, or you can trade Asik for a PF.
Comparing Asik and Dwight Howard is unfair...to both players. If you think Asik's presence can compare to Howard's, even if Asik gains any semblence of a post-game, then you're sorely mistaken. Unlike Asik, DHo commands double teams. He's a huge player that dwarfs most centers 1-on-1. He's incredibly athletic, can finish alleyoops, and is an equal, if not better, defender than Asik. Oh, and Dwight Howard can catch rudimentary passes, even the pinball passes thrown by Jeremy Lin. I agree that our most imminent concern is the PF position. Some say the Rockets should let the PF position develop, but with question marks around Parsons and Lin regarding their star potential, why add another one to the mix if you can get a guarantee in free agency?
You always take d Howard over j smith. Its easy one guy is a legit max player the other guy is not worth a max deal. I would love to play asik and Howard together. Their would definitely be spacing issues but with the right scheme and staggering minutes howard and asik would be a dominant combination.
LINK Howard does not like the pick-n-roll. He prefers to play in the post all the time and would demand touches there. We have all seen how big of a whining crybaby he is when he is not happy.
The difference is that we have zero chance of getting Howard. We do have a good chance of getting Josh Smith. The question is if Morey will want to give him the money he expects. He will be 28 in December. Will he still be really good when he is 31-32 and our young core players enter their prime? I really think Josh Smith is the perfect fit for this team, but he will not take us to contender status. So, let us just stay with what we have, and upgrade our weak positions (Power Forward & Point Guard) when a really good opportunity appears.
What makes you think that? I would say we have more of a chance at Dwight than we had a chance at Harden. Crap, our chances for Lin before we got Lin were next to nothing as well until Morey sprung up that contract. Of course that would not be the secret weapon for getting Dwight here because Lakers have that leverage, but zero chance?
Don't agree with the higher ceiling argument. Luis Scola was awesome for the Rockets and isnt a "high ceiling" guy. What we have now is the "high ceiling" guys that are all young and not playing particularly well. I agree with you that if we can get howard...we should. But I also heard we would have to get rid of key guys, like (gulp) Chandler Parsons.
Is howard the biggest upgrade though? Is the difference between Howard and Asik>the difference between Smith and DMo/SMith/etc?
investment vs return.. investment vs return.... how much does it cost and what do you get for your money... Obviously Howard is an upgrade over Asik... but is the differential from A to B worth the difference from an $8M/yr contract to a $20m/yr contract? Is a DHo skills/talent upgrade worth an additional $12+M in capspace every year? Yeh, probabaly so.... But you also have to add his 'attitude,' cause that's part of the return on your investment. Personally, I don't like the guy. I think he has consistently shown himself to be a lying two faced prima donna. Based on that alone, I have hesitation to even want him, but you can't pass on upperlevel talent in this league, so I'd still take him... Final point on DHo assessment is additional costs/returns... If we sign DHo outright, and then have a superfluous Asik to trade away as an asset - that's a bonus! Proceed with operation DHo! On the otherhand, if it's a sign n trade... what else do we haveta give up? If you have to give up Asik and fillers (TRob, Delfino...) - fine. But if we'd have to include Parsons (or maybe even TJones. or DMo) then I think the scale is tipping more to the pass category... JSmith.... Personally, I don't think he's worth the investment of a max deal contract... If he can be had for the 12-15M/yr range - cool, but otherwise... I'm signing whatever free agent is the best value contract, throwing him together with spare parts (TRob, DMo, TJones, Delino, picks, etc...) and trying to flip him for KLove or LMA or whatever star becomes available....
The gap between pre-injury Dwight and Asik is bigger than the gap between Smoove and TRob or DMo. Probably twice as big..............
I believe so. PF is the position that the Roxs can improve the most but someone like Howard is going to change how teams play against you because he can be dominant when healthy. He did take the Magics to the finals as well.
J.SMITH has a better personality. I want him if he doesn't insist Max. contract. After that, the Rockets can turn D-Mo and G.Smith to be backup centers and T-Jones to be SF, so too many PFs is not a problem.
Only problem is hack a Howard. Howard is a liability because of his free throw. Unless NBA makes hack a Howard illegal or Howard so how magically improve his FT (even less likely).